Ancient Greeks called the goddess of the moon Artemis. Ancient Chinese believed a goddess named Chang'e lived on the moon. Goguryeo murals depict a rabbit pounding rice cakes on the moon. For our ancestors, the moon was also an object of reverence — each early morning, they would place fresh pure water and pray with clasped hands for their family's health and happiness.
On July 20, 1969, humanity set foot on the lunar surface for the first time. Neil Armstrong, commander of the Apollo 11 lunar mission, left behind the famous words: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Earlier, the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite, in 1957, delivering "Sputnik shock" to the entire world. Last week, astronauts aboard Artemis 2 — the first crewed lunar flight in 54 years since Apollo 17 in 1972 — sent back stunning photographs of Earth taken from space on the 4th. They also delivered a message of peace: "Wherever you come from, whatever you look like, from up here we are one."
The launch of Artemis 2 is also putting a renewed spotlight on "lunanomics," a term referring to a moon-based economy. The moon is said to contain more than 1 million tons of helium-3, a fuel for nuclear fusion power generation. That is an enormous volume considering annual production on Earth is only 20,000 to 30,000 liters. Rare earth elements and minerals such as aluminum, titanium and silicon — resources that nations worldwide are staking their survival on securing supply chains for — are also abundant on the moon. Some forecasts project the scale of lunanomics will reach $127.3 billion (approximately 193 trillion won) annually by 2050.
The "Moon Rush" competition among nations eyeing lunanomics is also intensifying. The United States plans to land the crewed Artemis 3 on the moon in 2028, and China intends to send its unmanned Chang'e 7 probe to the lunar south pole this year. Space powers including India, Russia and Japan are also accelerating their lunar exploration efforts. As a latecomer, should South Korea not also refine its New Space strategy and hasten its own "moonshot" challenge?